


Can I Be Any More Obvious?

by Barbara_Lazuli



Series: Can I be Any More... [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, Female Tommy, brief zack/trini, cuz we all know zack had a crush on trini, minor Cranscott and Zammy, no powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-05 16:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13392168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barbara_Lazuli/pseuds/Barbara_Lazuli
Summary: Kimberly has never been in this situation before. She's usually the one getting asked out. So when she notices the pretty regular at the diner she works in she isn't quite sure what to do. She'll definitely have to beat Zack to the punch, though.





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey," the frat boy says in a way that he probably thinks is charming. 

Kimberly internally sighs. Her fellow college student has been frequenting the diner she works at. It was flattering at first, really. Kimberly has enough self-confidence and experience to take advances like those in stride. 

Being pursued for a week, however, while you're at work and after clearly showing no interest in the boy, Kim has become quite annoyed. It doesn't really help that at least one of his fraternity friends is constantly with him.

"I was really sad yesterday, you know," the boy makes a face that somehow reminds Kim of Flynn Rider's "smolder". "I didn't get to see you."

Kimberly gives him a tight smile. "Yes, well, I was sick yesterday. I'm sure you were still given proper service, in spite of my absence."

The boy shakes his head, supporting his arms on the table of his booth. "I only really came here to see you. Unless I do, I'm not satisfied."

His two friends snicker beside him while Kimberly purses her lips. _Yikes._

"Yes, well, I can't really be here to show my face _every time_ you go here," Kimberly almost hisses through her teeth. "So... Sorry."

His friends look expectantly at him. He doesn't seem phased at all. "No problem. I can just ask for your picture."

"Oooooohhh," frat boy 2 and 3 high five.

Kimberly couldn't help herself anymore. She rolled her eyes. "Right. Don't have one right now so can you justgive me your order?"

He 'charmingly' smiles at her before listing off his and his buddies' orders. Grateful to finally leave their booth, Kimberly walks over to the counter and slams the paper with the patrons' order in front of Billy, one of the cooks. Zack chuckles from behind the register, clearly amused by the situation.

"Can you just quickly finish their order, Billy?" Kimberly pleads to the cook. "The sooner they can start eating, the sooner they can finish and leave."

Billy smiles sweetly at her. "Sure thing, Kim."

"Want us to spit on their food?" Zack offers with a mischevious smile.

Kimberly hums as she seriously considers the offer.

Billy shakes his head. "No, no, no, no." He pauses, probably counting the amount of times he said 'no'. " _No_. Contaminating the food we serve is a serious health violation. Mr. Zordon will fire us when he finds out."

Zack waves a hand dismissively. "It's not like anyone will notice."

Billy only frowns deeper.

"Come on, Zack." Jason walks over to them after serving a customer her order. "You know Billy doesn't like keeping secrets. And don't worry, Kim. I'll bring the order for those jerks. Why don't you wait for table five instead?"

Kimberly smiles. "Yeah, okay. I like that idea."

After making sure that Billy is busy inside the kitchen, Jason leans closer to Kim to whisper. "We'll spit on their burgers next time when Billy's not looking."

Kimberly's smile shifts from being appreciative to being mirthful. "I like that idea better."

She would rather there be no next time, but Kimberly has always enjoyed a bit of harmless pranking. 

She goes to table five, fumbling inside her aprons pocket to get her pad for writing customers' orders. When she looks up to greet her customer, she sees a short Latina sitting in the booth alone. The tips of her wavy brown hair is dipped with golden highlights. The top of her head is coveded by a yellow beanie, making her pretty face look even cuter, in spite of the slightly unfriendly aura the other girl is giving off.

"Whoa, _hello_ ," Kimberly says lowly, not unlike the way boyd call out hot girls.

(Well. Not very far from what's happening right now actually.)

The girl takes her eyes away from the menu and the eye contact makes Kimberly gulp nervously. The girl raises a brow.

"I, um -" Kimberly clears her throat, "- I mean, hi!" She puts on the charming smile she uses to get bigger tips, except what she maybe wants right now is the girl's number. "I'm Kimberly. Have you decided on an order?"

"Yeah," the girl's tiny voice makes Kimberly internally coo. "Just the pancakes. And water. Thanks, man."

Kimberly gives her one last smile before almost skipping back to the counter to give Billy the girl's order.

"Oh no..." Zack's troubled voice catches Kimberly's attention. "No, no, no, no."

Kimberly tilts her head in askance. "What's wrong, Zack?"

"No!" He points an accusing finger at her. "I know that smile! That's the smile you make when you're into someone. No! I met Didi first!"

Kimberly covers Zack's mouth to shush him. "Zack!" she hisses. "Keep your voice down!" She peeks back at table five but the girl is too busy on her phone to notice anything. "What are you talking about?"

He slaps Kimberly's hand away so he can speak. "I met her yesterday. I called dibs!"

Kimberly laughs incredulously. "We're talking about a _girl_ , Zack. Not the last slice of pizza."

"Awe, come on, Kimmy. I've never stolen any of your past boyfriends."

"That's because you're straight, Zack."

"Yeah, okay. But I definitely could've stolen any of your old boyfriends if I wanted to. Look at how hot I am!"

"Exactly. If she wants you, then you can totally win her over. You don't need me to step down for you."

Usually, Kimberly _would_ step down. She doesn't want to fight against her friend over a girl. That is _so_ high school. But something about "Didi" makes Kimberly want to try. 

"It's fair game," Kimberly says. "Can't I have a fighting chance, too?"

Zack bites his lip as he seriously considers what Kim said. But before he could decide, Jason joins them. 

"I just gave the frat boys their order," Jason says with a smug grin. "Frat boy number one was definitely not happy that you didn't bring it for him, Kim." He cuts his laugh short when he notices the atmosphere between his two friends. "Uh... what's going on?"

"Kimmy likes Didi, too," Zack says somberly.

"Wow. How hot is this chick?" Jason moves to look at table five but Zack pulls him by the sleeve of his uniform.

"No way, man! Kim's a tough enough competetion. I don't wanna compete against Steve Rogers and Troy Bolton's love child, too!"

Kimberly laughs at the accurate referrence. 

"Whoa, chill, man." Jason lazily leans on the counter. "I've seen her already. She's not my type anyway. So you're both going after her?"

Kimberly looks questioningly at Zack. 

"Yeah, alright," Zack concedes and Kimberly beams.

"I don't think Zack has to worry too much. "Kim's really bad at picking up girls."

If Zack were a dog, his ears would perkily point upwards right now. Meanwhile, Kimberly gasps, offended.

"Uh, excuse me, Steve Bolton?"

Jason scowls at the new nickname. "It's why you've only had boyfriends. You're not good at making moves on girls, Kim. It's understandable. Most guys are willing to throw themselves at you, so you never really had to give much of an effort. But when it comes to girls, you're always into chicks who are either too shy or," he jerks his head in Didi's direction," don't really to make any first moves."

"And girls who are oblivious," Billy adds from the kitchen. 

Jason nods. "And you lose your cool when you crush on a girl."

"Wow," Zack slowly claps. "Is that true, Kimmy?"

Kimberly narrows her eyes at Jason who remains smug. 

"You've known me for to long, Jason Scott."

"Pancakes for table five is ready," Billy says.

"You know what?"She stares down Jason and Zack. "You _don't_ know me as well as you think you do. That shit was high school. I'm different now."

Jason makes a face that says "Go ahead then."Zack's grin is huge, now more interested in how Kimberly's attempt will go.

"What are you going to do?" Billy asks.

"I," she pauses for dramatic effect, "am going to _woo_ the girl at table five." 

She grabs the bottle of syrup and covers the stack of pancakes with it. Zack is laughing at the word "woo" while Jason raises his brow at the huge heart shaped syrup covering the pile of pancakes.

"Seriously, Kimberly _Hart_? Could you be any more subtle?"

Kim only smirks at her three boys before carrying the tray to table five. She feels Frat Boy Table's eyes on her, but she ignores both that and their call for her. Didi, however, notices it.

"Those guys need some waiting, I think." Didi throws a brow and throws a quick glance at the boys' table.

Kimberly merely smiles sweetly at her. "Jason is on trash duty this time."

Didi snorts and the sound of it makes butterflies punch her stomach. 

Right on cue, Kimberly hears Jason swoop onto the table behind her to check what the frat boys want. She hears one of them grumble "not you again" before she tunes herself out of that conversation and fully focuses on the customer in front of her. She places the plate of pancakes and glass of water on the table, making sure to slowly slide it in front of Didi so her torso is almost pressing up to the other girl. The waitress uniform she's wearing isn't really allowed to have opened buttons to show a peak of her assets, but Kimberly's sure that the proximity is enough to get _some_ kind of reaction from the shorter girl. Didi's attention, however, was on the plate of pancakes. Or more precisely, the heart shaped syrup coating it.

"Anything else you want?" Kimberly asks. She refrains herself from adding "Like my number?"

"Yeah can I get a bottle of syrup? I wanna put more."

Kimberly blinks. "Oh. Okay." She quickly fetches the bottle from the counter without even sparing a glance at Jason and Zack who have curiously been watchong all this time. "Here you go," she says and hands the bottle to her with an extra flutter of her eyelashes. 

But the girl isn't paying attention to Kim's flirtatious advances. She simply takes the bottle and covers the pancake with a blasphemous amount of syrup.

Kimberly manages to say, "Enjoy your food" as she watches the heart disapear. 

"Sure," is her simple reply.

When Kimberly comes back with a dejected look on her face. Even Zack holds back a smug grin to give her a sympathetic rub on the back. 

"Guess it didn't go so well, huh," Zack says.

Billy emerges from the kitchen and adds, "maybe she's straight."

Kimberly rests her jaw on both hands. "Mmm... maybe." When she notices Jason holding a slip of paper, she asks. "What's that?"

Jason looks at it like he forgot it existed. "Oh this? One of the frat guys gave it to me when they left."

Kimberly sees a phone number scribbled on it. "Which one?"

"The redhead."

"Frat boy number three?" Kimberly gives him a congratulatory head nod. She's been with male friends for much too long. "Nice going."

"At least Jase got a number, huh, Kim?" Zack's smug grin is back. That earns him a shove from Kimberly.

Billy, however, is frowning. He snatches the paper from Jason's hand and crumples it.

"You don't need that," he says before throwing it to the trash bin and disappearing inside the kitchen.

Kim and Zack snicker knowingly while Jason smiles to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Didi came back five days later. Not that Kimberly was counting or anything.

(She totally was.)

Didi isn't wearing her beanie this time. Kimberly can see the tight braids at the side of her head. She had to stop herself from swooning at how much hotter she looks.

"Dude, wipe yourself," Jason says. "You're drooling."

Kimberly's hand shoots to her mouth without thinking. She hears Jason's cackle and she throws her notepad to his face.

"Ouch, okay, I deserved that." The smile on his face doesn't quell Kimberly's anger. His 3truugeqkjb face falls when he looks back in Didi's direction. "Uh-oh."

"What's - oh."

Didi didn't come back alone. A girl with raven black hair tied in a tight ponytail has her arm around Didi. Didi looks ridiculously small next to her tall companion. 

The tall girl's green eyes suddenly land on Kim and stays on her. Kimberly doesn't shy away from the stare and holds it. Tall Girl only smirks like she knows something before looking away and settling in a booth with Didi.

Before Kimberly can even think about what just happened, she hears Zack whoop from behind the register. He plants both of his hands on the counter and jumps over it instead of just walking around it like a normal person. 

Kimberly gapes at him. "Show off."

Zack only grins, pulls the knot of Kimberly's apron, and steals it to put it on himself.

Kimberly squeeks. "Taylor!" she hisses.

"My turn!" he says as he runs to Didi's table. 

Kimberly shakes her head and crosses her arms. "Was it necessary to be so extra?"

Jason snorts. "Says the drama queen."

"Say that again, bitch?"

Jason's smile remains. "Still a cheerleader, Hart."

Kimberly shoots him a weak glare before looking back at Didi's table where Zack is taking their order. Zack's back is to them so they can't see his face. They can see Didi's, though, and her face is as neutral as the last time Kim saw her. Didi's companion is grinning so widely, like she's watching something incredibly entertaining.

"Who do you think Ponytail Girl is?" Kimbery asks.

Jason hums. "You think she's her girlfriend don't you?"

Kimberly huffs. "It's possible."

" _If_ she's queer."

" _Please_. I know fashion, Jason. Her whole wardrobe screams 'queer'."

Jason laughs. "Didn't know a person's fashion sense indicated their sexual orientation, too."

"It's, like, accurate sixty percent of the time."

Because it's a slow day in the diner, Billy comes out of the kitchen to join his friends.

"How's it going?" Billy asks.

Kimberly tilts her head. "Not sure yet. Hard to tell when Didi barely reacts to anything. Ponytail Girl hasn't stopped smiling like she's holding off a laugh since she got here."

"Wait, look," Jason says.

They watch Zack stand in a more relaxed position. Ponytail Girl's eyebrows rise while Didi's furrow in confusion.

"Oh, he's definitely making a move," Billy says.

Kimberly feels horrible for thinking this way, but she really hopes that the Taylor Charm doesn't work on Didi.

Kimberly almost jumps for joy when Didi makes a borderline disgusted face. She settles for a fist pump instead.

Ponytail Girl is laughing now. Zack is rubbing the back of his head and Didi makes a gesture of waving something off. Zack comes back with his lips pursed.

"Well, guess I wasn't even qualified," Zack smiles awkwardly. "She's gay."

"Yes!" Kimberly says outloud. When Jason clears his throat, Kimberly catches herself too late and shoots Zack an apologetic look. "I mean, sorry."

Zack shrugs. "It's cool." He leans closer to them conspirationally to whisper. "Did you see her friend though? Hot _damn._ "

"But what if she's Didi's girlfriend?" Billy says. "That would explain why she ignored Kim's advances."

"Oh..." Zack leans on the counter. "I didn't think of that."

Kimberly's shoulders slump, too.

"But first things first," Jason says. "Tell Billy their order so he can start making it."

"Ah. Um..."

Kimberly pinches the bridge of her nose. "Don't tell me you forgot."

Zack looks sheepish. "I won't tell you, then." 

"Why didn't you write it down?!"

"The pad was missing from the pocket!"

Kimberly flushes.

"Yeah. That was Kim's bad," Jason says.

"It was _Jason's_ ," Kimberly counters. "He provoked me."

The scandalized look Jason does makes Kimberly laugh.

"No problem," Zack says. "I'll jist ask for their order again. Maybe find out whether she's dating Didi."

"I'm not dating anyone."

The new voice makes all four of them jump. They look at the raven haired girl who is already leaning on the counter beside them. How did none of them notice her?

The girl rests her chin on her hand and quirks a brow at them. "And do you seriously call Trini 'Didi'?"

Billy, Jason, and Kimberly look at Zack.

"I didn't _say_ that was her name," Zack says defensively.

"But you called her _Didi_ ," Billy says.

"Well, I had to call her _something_!" Zack replies.

Kimberly slaps his arm. "Who the fuck just gives people random names and doesn't even tell his friends that it's fake?!"

"Zack does."

"Thank you, Billy."

"Where did you even _get_ 'Didi'?" Jason asks.

Zack shrugs. "She looked like a 'Didi'."

Ponytail Girl laughs. "You guys are a riot. You're all lucky Trini loves deathmetal or else she would have heard all of that."

They look at Trini's table. She has huge headphones tucked on.

Ponytail Girl shakes her head. "Do you guys have a codename for _me_?"

"Ponytail Girl," Billy says. "That's what I call you in my head."

His friends nod in agreement.

Ponytail girl pouts. "That's not as creative as 'Didi'."

"I fail to see the creativity in _that_ ," Kimberly says.

Ponytail Girl smiles. "I'm Tommy."

"Jason."

"Kimberly."

"Zack."

"Billy."

Tommy nods. "So is Zack the only one after Trini or does she have a harem in this diner?"

Billy, Zack, and Jason look at Kimberly. 

Tommy laughs. "I knew it."

Kimberly suddenly feels defensive. She crosses her arms. "What?"

"I knew it. She told me about this weird waitress who, and I quote, 'I would've snarled at for invading my personal space if she wasn't so cute'. And she complained that you put too little syrup on her pancakes."

Kimberly flushes as she remembers that embarassing exchange. She just keeps in mind that Trini thinks she's cute.

"That was Kimmy's attempt at flirting," Zack says with a smirk.

"You put a message on it, didn't you?" Tommy knowingly says.

"... it was shaped like a heart."

Tommy laughs out loud. The sound makes Trini jump, and she looks around before spotting Tommy hanging out with the diner's employee's. She makes a dumbfounded look at her friend.

Tommy waves offhandedly. "I just wanted to let them know that I wanted to add something to our order."

Trini nods. Her eyes suddenly move from Trini to Kimberly. Kimberly almost flinches, but she has enough cool to smile at her (she sure hopes it was charming). Trini smiles back and puts her headphones back on as she returns her attention to her phone. 

"Oh, girl, you got it bad," she hears Tommy say.

Okay, so the smile may have looked more smitten and dorky than Kimberly intended.

"Speaking of orders, though," Zack says, "can we get yours again?"

Tommy shrugs. "Sure. But give me your number in exchange."

Jason and Billy "ooooh..." beside a surprisingly flustered Zack. Tommy repeats her order to Billy. Trini seems to have ordered pancakes again.

"That's how obvious you gotta be," Tommy whispers to Kimberly's ear. 

Kimberly chances a glance at Trini. Surprisingly, their eyes meet. Trini looks away. 

Tommy holds out her fist. Kimberly rolls her eyes but lightly bumps it to her own anyway.

"Good luck."

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ 

Kimberly was prepared to wait another five days for Trini to come back. Surprisingly, Trini immediately came back the next day. Kimberly itches to go to her table, but she's on register duty right now.

She hears a chuckle from beside her and sees Zack taking his apron off. He hands it to her.

"Your turn."

Kimberly smiles gratefully as she takes it. Much like Zack did, she jumps over the counter.

Zack laughs and says, "drama queen!"

Just like the other times Trini came, the diner is mostly empty aside from the couple at table two Jason is serving. He sticks out his hand behind him and Kimberly claps it lightly as she passes. The familiar walk to table five is just as nerve-wracking as the first time. But this time she's definitely going to get Trini's number. 

Trini looks up at her and all of the bravado Kimberly mustered up the last twenty-four hours since she saw her disappears. Trini doesn't even smile with all of her teeth shown and Kimberly's heart melts.

"Hi," Kimberly breathes out.

"Hey," Trini says. 

Kimberly holds up her pen and notepad. "So, let me guess. Pancakes again?"

Trini flushes. Kimberly commits every detail to her memory."Um. It's not my favorite or anything."

"Uh-huh," Kimberly says, unconvinced, as she writes down Trini's order. "I'm guessing you really hate it and you're just punishing yourself by eating it."

Trini purses her lips. "Close, actually."

Kimberly raises a brow curiously. 

"My, uh, mom always made them because it's my brothers' favorite. To the point where I actually got sick of it. But I stay in the dorms for college now." Trini shrugs. "'Guess I'm just homesick."

Suddenly, all of the pick up lines Zack and Jason helped her come up with the night before disappeared. Kimberly feels like none of them would fit how she's feeling right now except for, "I want to know more about you".

Instead saying anything cheesy back to her, Kimberly smiles warmly and says, "I know the feeling. I miss my Mom's cooking, too."

Trini smiles bashfully. When Kimberly simply stands there (definitely not staring), Trini starts squirming.

"Uh... you gonna go tell them my order, or?"

Kimberly blinks. Then flushes. "Right, right. Is that all you want?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Kimberly walks back to the counter with a dreamy smile on her face. All three boys are waiting for her with expectant looks on their faces.

"So what happened?" Zack asks eagerly. 

Kimberly hands the piece of paper with Trini's order on it to Billy. "She ordered pancakes again."

All three exchange looks with each other. Billy shrugs and goes back to the kitchen to prepare the pancakes.

"That's it?" Jason says.

"What about being forward and all that junk?" Zack says.

"Weren't you going to prove that you can 'woo' girls, too?" 

Kimberly shakes her head. "It's not about that anymore. She just told me the she eats pancakes here because it reminds her of her mom and brothers. Isn't that just so cute?"

Jason and Zack exchange amused smirks.

"Adorable."

"Very."

Kimberly sighs. "My point is, I think I really like this girl. And I don't really want her to think I'm some smooth fuckboy."

Zack pats her shoulder good-naturedly. "No problem, then! 'Cause you're nowhere near 'smooth'."

"What's your game plan, then?" Jason asks.

Kimberly smiles widely. "I have no idea."

"Pancakes for table five," Billy says as he slides the plate in front of Kimberly.

She gives him a quick thanks and takes the bottle of syrup to cover the stack with a ridiculous amount of syrup.

She goes back to Trini's table and slides the pancakes in front of her. So she may have chosen to forgo lame pick up, but she can't really pass up any opprtunity to press up closer to Trini.

"Do you _always_ a customer's personal space when you serve them food?" Trini asks with a raised brow and, Kimberly notes, a slight tint of pink on her cheeks.

If Zack and Jason were here, they would tell her that she should reply with, "only for cute ones like you."

But Jason is waiting table six right now and Zack is busy at the register. Kimberly doesn't want to do that, anyway. No more flirty gestures or subtle touches. 

Honesty is a good way to go, right?

Ah, fuck it.

"No," Kimberly says. "I just can't help myself because I have this _huge_ crush on you."

Trini is motionless. Her eyes are wide before they rapidly blink. Then she flushes. "What?"

"I've been trying to flirt with you since that first time I saw you come in here. But you were just _so_ oblivous!"

Kimberly is almost whining when she says the last sentence. It looks pathetic, really, but Kimberly's already so desperate for Trini to see her as more than a waiter in this diner.

Trini, meanwhile, is still in shock. She's just silently looking at Kimberly. The silence is killing her, so Kimberly fills it by rambling even more.

"I - I know we barely even know each other. But can we hang out sometime? Not even just the two of us. I know Zack and Tommy have been flirting over texts now, so we can hang out with them. If - if that's okay with you." Kimberly smiles shyly. "I'll even make pancakes for you."

Trini remains silent for a moment. Then she hides her laughter behind her hand. It's an adorable sight, really.

"You got me with 'pancakes'," Trini says.

Kimberly beams. She's about to reply when Jason grabs her by her arm.

"I am really, really sorry, Kim," Jason says and he really does look like it. "But I really need some extra hands. People are filling up."

Kimberly looks around and confirms that, yes, rush hour is about to start. She doesn't even have time to say goodbye to Trini before she's called out by a family seated at the next table. 

Trini is already gone before business in the diner settles down. Kimberly sighs as she rests her chin on both her hands. She hopes that Trini would visit the next day when somebody taps her on her shoulder. It's Jason and he's holding a piece of yellow sticky note.

"I found this on Trini's table when I was cleaning up," Jason says before handing it to her.

_I didn't want to bother you while you worked. And I was honestly already running late for my next class, so can you just text me when you're free? ~ trini_

Kimberly reads the note twice. Then three times. She looks at the number written below and _memorizes_ it. She doesn't bother thinking about how nerdy it is that Trini brings sticky notes with her.

She has Trini's number. Fucking finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this two-shot was a lot of fun to write. i apologize for lack of actual trini but i just reeeally wanted to write a pining kim


End file.
